Reviews

'I have a history of violence but the public record of it will always be incomplete.'  The above lines are from Roxane Gay's memoir, Hunger. I couldn't think of better words to quote while talking about a movie that so subtly shows the undisguised violence this casteist society unleashes on its people. It starts with a group of friends who, on an election day, go to a secluded place in the forest to  spend some time together. But it's not a story about friendship. It's a story of how even friendships are shaped in a society where people inherit violence. You're either the victim or the perpetrator. It takes a huge amount of courage and constant unlearning to finally get past everything that this structure expects from you. For the victims, it's a journey that takes away everything they have and strips them of their dignity. It dehumanizes them. They have a history of violence but the public record of the violence that Indian society has subje...

Paroma released in 1985 and Stri released in 1995. Paroma is a Bengali movie and Stri is a Telugu movie. Both movies won the national award for best feature film in their respective language. Paroma portrays the story of Paroma, a docile married Bengali woman whose world is confined to the house she was married into and her work is to keep the house going. Everything she does is in sync with everyone's routine because she's the one looking after the people in the house so that they keep doing what they're supposed to do. Her life takes a turn when she falls in love with a much younger man named Rahul. This docile housewife gets involved in an extra marital affair which overturns the routine she followed for so long. It also takes her on a journey of self discovery which results in her wanting to work outside of home and earn her own money. Stri, on the other hand,  is the story of Rangi. She's not married. She doesn't have children and an ail...